Local animal rights activists are making strides with new tacticsBy
DEBORAH ZIFFJune 12, 2010

A change in strategy has given animal rights groups some momentum
recently.

After many years of laboring against animal research, the animal
rights movement has gained momentum in Madison in recent months.

Research opponents won a favorable court ruling earlier this month,
packed a room for a public debate in March, and got the Dane County Board
to take up the issue.

But despite increased public attention, animal rights activists say
there has been little change when it comes to the use of monkeys and
other animals in scientific studies.

"What we're up against is still huge," said Rick Marolt, a research
opponent and member of the Madison-based Alliance for Animals. "Real
change is still difficult and could be quite a ways off. But there is
something rare going on."

Their efforts have also been buoyed by some high profile cases at
UW-Madison. Two federal agencies visited UW-Madison in December and found
violations of animal care. A researcher was suspended last year because
of her treatment of monkeys.

The animal rights movement is especially active in Madison because of
UW-Madison's prominence as a research institution — it operates one of
eight national primate labs in the U.S. — and major private companies
that conduct animal research here such as Covance.

Holding researchers' feet to the flame

Eric Sandgren, director of UW-Madison's animal care and use programs,
said the university has been "tremendously influenced" by animal rights
groups. The pressure has prompted the university to be more open with
meetings and records, Sandgren said.

"They keep putting it in front of my face that I'm responsible for
these animals," he said. "Yes, it does make me take it more seriously."

However, research opponents say they are still far from their ultimate
goal: the elimination or significant reduction of animals used for
research. Many scientists believe animal research is well-regulated and
greatly benefits science and medicine.

"I have thought very hard about this," Sandgren said. "I have
considered the ethics. The animal activists have thought very hard about
this and considered the ethics. We reach very different conclusions,
using the same ethical tools. That does not mean either of us has done
anything wrong."

Marolt and others were disappointed that without much debate, a
UW-Madison committee in January approved a statement that essentially
said research is ethical given local and federal oversight.

"I would say we've been successful over the past couple years getting
the issue in the public eye," said Rick Bogle, co-director of Alliance
for Animals. "I don't know we can point to very many concrete successes
in terms of affecting the status quo."

New tactics

But recent tactics might represent a shift in the way research
opponents try to change attitudes and policies. Bogle said his group no
longer protests at researchers homes, "because of the recognition it
hasn't had much effect," he said.

Rather they have turned to more bureaucratic channels, currying favor
with local politicians and filing lawsuits.

That proved successful in a recent court decision. Alliance for
Animals and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals filed a petition
alleging that UW-Madison violated state law when sheep died in
experiments on decompression sickness. UW-Madison said they have since
stopped the experiments, but a special prosecutor is now considering
bringing criminal charges against nine UW-Madison scientists and
officials.

Marolt is optimistic that pressure from elected officials like the
Dane County Board could be an effective tool to reach scientists. The
board is considering creating a panel to study the treatment of monkeys
in Dane County and the ethics of the research.

"No elected body of officials like the board of supervisors has ever
taken an issue like this up in this country," Marolt said. "I think we're
blazing trails here."

Still, university officials stand by the promise of animal research to
make advancements in preventing and treating diseases. UW-Madison
Chancellor Biddy Martin wrote a letter last week to Dane County Board
supervisors describing the County Board resolution as unproductive. She
heralded the promise of animal research to find an AIDS vaccine.

"While the use of animals in research is an important matter of public
debate, it is clear that there are differing points of view that are
unlikely to be resolved as long as animal models...continue to inform
essential biomedical research, discovery, and treatment," she wrote.